


Safe

by KazimaKuwabara



Category: One Piece
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Capture, Friendship, Gen, Happy Ending, Hostage Situations, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, Nakama, Nakamaship, non reliable narrator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 06:40:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28466955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KazimaKuwabara/pseuds/KazimaKuwabara
Summary: The idea of Safety, and what will make him feel safe, floats through Usopp's head as he awaits what seems to be death, in a watery trap.
Relationships: Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates & Usopp, Roronoa Zoro & Usopp
Comments: 11
Kudos: 66





	Safe

Usopp is freezing cold. His arms are raised above his head, looped over thick bamboo poles that crisscross over his head, keeping him inside a trap.

His biceps are cramping, but it’s better than letting go. From the neck down, he is submerged in ice-cold water. If he lets go, he’ll sink. He's not sure how deep this watery pit goes, surely at least over his head, but he does know his body is too cramped up to push himself back up if he lets go of the poles.

He's been here too long.

It’s been over eight hours stuck in this watery trap.

His legs are so cramped up from the cold. He’ll drown if he lets go. He knows it.

_He knows it._

“Huh, still hanging on?” a voice overheard catches Usopp’s ear. 

Wearily, Usopp raises his head and looks up into the face of the pirate Captain that caught him. The dangerous man they had encountered on this island, threatening poor locals. Of course, Luffy got involved. Of course, it was bigger than what they thought it would be. But that was how their adventures on the high seas seemed to go. The Straw Hats found danger, got themselves involved...

And well, like many times before, Usopp found himself in a dangerous situation. 

Instinctively, Usopp pressed his face to his forearm, which turns out to be a good call.

His captor smashes a foot to the top of his head, kicking Usopp so hard his ears are ringing. Usopp shudders as warm blood trickles down the back of his neck. He is already injured from earlier encounters he's had with this guy and his crew. He'd very much like it though, if this guy would stop making it all worse.

“I’m impressed! You hang on another eight hours and I’ll pull you out myself!” the man sneers, giddy over Usopp’s predicament. “I’m mildly impressed with how long you’ve held on. I’ve seen a lot of people let go after six hours... But you know... if you want out of that trap alive, you just gotta answer one thing.”

Usopp grips the bamboo poles tighter and he thinks of Luffy clobbering this guy in the face. His expression is lived, and his fists inflated to twice their size. Luffy is a wild beast to be reckoned with and he demolishes this evil Captain and his crew. _Easily._ He then would find a way to pull Usopp out of the water--even if it was saltwater--and hold him close. Keep him safe. Usopp would then laugh and say he knew Luffy was coming... but then again Luffy shouldn't have worried.

He is the strongest, bravest, warrior of the sea... after all. He'd get out on his own.

“Just tell me where your navigator went off too. Or the coordinates to where your crew stashed your ship. You tell me all that... you’ll get out,” the man promises, his voice oily and full of promises he won’t keep. Usopp knows a liar when he hears one.

He thinks of Franky finding him and turning into a tank; blowing this place to hell and then pulling him up into a hard hug. He’d cuss up a storm and painfully rub feeling back into Usopp’s limbs, his touch a little too rough, but still... it would be comforting. He'd call Usopp super; say he was brave. Usopp would feel that warm feeling he gets, he thinks he used to get, for his father. 

“My men are going to find them sooner or later, and trust me, if I can get my hands on someone else, I’ll be done with ya boy. I’ll leave you to drown. Or just stick a bullet between your eyes,” The man says, his finger tapping down on Usopp’s brow sharply. 

In his head, Nami is throwing a blanket over his shoulders, while Chopper looks him over. Robin has a boring book in her hand and is reading to Usopp about some sort of old thing she likes. The cadence of her voice is nice... it’s almost like a song. It sets him at ease, even if he finds how an ancient civilization used to dry herbs boring.

The Captain grips Usopp’s hair, and shakes him, “Are you listening to me? I’m just putting some things in perspective for ya kid... help me out or you’ll become useless. Stay useless, and you’re dead!”

Sanji will have a full course meal ready for Usopp, and scold Usopp in that overly motherly way he does (which he denies he does, but he _totally_ does!) Jinbe will pat Usopp’s head and commend him for lasting against those pirate jerks for so long, and then laugh in that deep hearty chuckle he has. Brook will play music, and hum, sing and laugh. Eventually, he’ll somehow make a song out of all his nonsensical sounds, and it’ll feel perfect. Everything will be perfect.

Usopp will be home.

“Hey! Help _me_ , help _you_!” The Captain hisses, and Usopp’s head is jerked up.

Squinting, Usopp stares into the face of his tormentor. All he can see is a black silhouette. The sun is too bright. Or maybe that’s Usopp’s concussion. He’s pretty sure he has that now. 

“You don’t want to die here. You were putting up such a fight eight hours ago. Don’t you want to live?” The Captain sneers, pulling Usopp’s hair tighter.

Eight hours ago Usopp had been running for his life. Cursing Luffy and the others for choosing this stupid island to stop at. Cursing them for picking a fight with these really dangerous pirates. And then cursing his stupid two feet for tripping him up and allowing him to get caught.

They’d beaten him, and thrown him in this watery trap... and then they made the mistake of making fun of Luffy. Laughing at his straw hat. About his weird crew. His weird ship. The only good thing Luffy had was a top-notch navigator, with a great body.

Usopp decided then he was done listening to them. He was done asking to get out. He was done talking to them. He wouldn't say anything.

They wouldn’t get a word out of him-those bastards. He didn’t have Kabuto to make them pay for their words, and he was stuck in this watery pit... but if Usopp couldn’t do anything else, he’d keep his mouth shut.

The silhouette stares down at Usopp, and his hand pulls Usopp’s hair painfully tight. A thumb is pressed to Usopp’s cheek, right under his right eye.

The Captain sighs, “Fine. Stay quiet. I tried to be nice here. I tried to help. But I think you need to be taught another lesson.” Gently the Captain’s thumb brushes over Usopp’s eyelashes. Coaxing, he shuts Usopp’s eyelid, and presses his thumb against it... gently, for the moment.

Usopp curls his cramping arm tighter around the bamboo pole. There’s another version of himself begging for his safety, pleading and crying to let go. The water and his resolve have frozen that Usopp behind Usopp’s lips. Behind his closed right eye.

“I warned ya,” The black outline of a man says in a bored sigh, and begins to apply pressure to Usopp’s eye.

Out of Usopp’s open left eye, he watches as a wild beast descends on the black shadow holding him, three blades slicing down.

The bamboo poles break.

Usopp falls into the watery pit, his whole body cramped from the cold.

He sinks like a stone, unable to get up.

Blue turns to red.

 _‘I hadn’t thought how Zoro would rescue me,'_ Usopp muses, closing his eyes. He hadn't meant to forget. If Zoro saved him... hmm... it would probably go like this.

Hands as strong as steel, as rough as a shark’s skin, and as warm as a fire, clamp around Usopp’s arms.

Usopp is pulled painfully from the water and draped over a strong arm. 

A rough hand pats his back, hard, and insistent. The hand hits Usopp’s back until the sniper is coughing and choking. A tremble immediately takes over his body, and Usopp lets out a choked swear as his legs cramp more. The seizing pain spreading up his body in a vicious line.

Zoro’s bloodied hands trail down Usopp’s legs pressing and massaging the cramp as it tries to lock his legs up. Zoro’s other hand has a tight grip on Usopp’s shoulder. It’s painful, and Usopp can feel a tremble to them.

“Fuck! Goddammit, Usopp! Are you okay? Oi!” 

Usopp opens his eyes, Zoro’s rough words and sharp voice making him realize his eyes had still been shut.

When he opens his eyes, Zoro is soaked. There are bruises under his eyes, signs of exhaustion, and his eye is bloodshot. He has surrounded Usopp with the bulk of his body, which seems intentional. Surrounded in the space of Zoro’s chest and arms, Usopp can’t see any sign of his captors, nor the place he has been held for eight hours.

All he can see is his Nakama, and there is nothing safer than that.

“Usopp! Speak!” Zoro’s shout startles Usopp out of his thoughts. 

The physical jolt sends more terrible cramps shooting up Usopp’s legs and into his back. Usopp whines like a wounded animal and presses his forehead into Zoro’s chest. The swordsman swoops Usopp to him, pressing him tight; knowing hands traveling down Usopp’s back, pressing and massaging the terrible cramp away.

"You're cold as ice!" Zoro laments, growling in animalistic fury, "How long did they have you in that...? What was he about to do...? I'm sorry I'm late!"

Usopp can see over Zoro’s shoulder. The bamboo poles are broken; sliced into thin pieces as if they had been nothing. The Captain’s body is floating alongside the bamboo in the watery pit. The water is red. Other pirates are scattered around the ground, and the makeshift camp is decimated. Like an uncontrollable storm, Zoro had swept through wreaking havoc until he had Usopp free.

Now the storm was quieted and Zoro held Usopp, rough fingers digging painfully into the Sniper’s cramping body.

“Jesus. You're a mess. What happened to you staying in the back? How did they get you!? Do you know how long we’ve been looking for you!? Can you get up? Chopper will see to your-”

Usopp interrupts Zoro’s angry ramblings with a very weak, and relieved, “Zoro... thanks for saving me...”

As he chokes on a sob, Zoro lets out an explosive sigh, and his hug becomes tighter.

“Dammit Usopp,” Zoro hisses, voice filled with so many conflicting emotions, it is hard to describe. Usopp thinks he'll smile about it later.

“It’s okay... you’re okay.” He begins to repeat these words like a mantra while gathering Usopp up. Usopp’s body is in a lock of cramped pain, and he’s not going to protest to being carried... not that he would protest if he was healthy either. Zoro tucks a strong arm under Usopp's knees and keeps the other curled around this back. He presses Usopp tight to him, intent to shield Usopp from the carnage around him.

“I’ll get you back to Chopper, and you’ll be alright,” Zoro says, clumsily patting Usopp’s back.

“Oww.... my body is all cramped up...” Usopp whines, defaulting to being petulant now that he was sure he was safe. Sure that he'd been saved and he was going to be back with his crew.

"This is real, right?" Usopp asks in a tiny voice.

Zoro digs his knuckle into Usopp's cramped back, " 'Course it's real. Feel that pain? You're alive!" Zoro's hand splays out on Usopp's back, warm and firm, "It's alright now. The pain is real ain't it?"

"...Yes," Usopp eventually agrees, tears burning his frigid face, "Man... it's cold! And it hurts!"

“Well if they kept you in that water the whole time you were gone... it makes sense your body is like this. You should train more... build up your endurance.”

“Oh, geeze, well thanks for your advice!”

Zoro squeezes Usopp to him, his hand too rough as he attempts to console the whining younger man in his arms. It’s rough. A little painful. Clumsy and awkward. It’s very Zoro. And it’s perfect.

Usopp sniffles again, and presses his cheek to Zoro’s peck. Zoro plops his chin atop Usopp’s head and sighs. He squeezes Usopp again and causes another mini cramp to set off in the sniper’s body.

“You’re safe now,” Zoro says firmly.

_He knows._

“I know,” Usopp says sighing as he presses into Zoro, "I know."

End

**Author's Note:**

> I weirdly got this idea Watching a 1980s film called Flash Gordon. That movie is strange, but there was an interesting scene where Flash is stuck in a swamp, submerged in a watery trap like what Usopp is in. Somehow my mind got here, and we've got this story here.


End file.
